Adjustable looper for sewing-machines.



F. H. RICHARDS.

ADJUSTABLE LvooPEn FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED lUNE I3` 1902. RENAEWED APR. 11.19l6.

Patented July 18, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l` F. H. RICHARDS.

ADJUSTABLE LOOPER FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLICATION HLED :um: 13. IQOLAENEWED APR. 1|. 1916.

1191234' Patented July 18, 1916.'

3 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 5'

illHIII-Illllllllll F. H.ERICHARDS.

ADJUSTABLE LOOPYER FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLlcATloN man lune 1a. |902. Rengweo APR. n. 191s.

1 ,191,234. Patented my 18; 191e.

-ssHEETs-SHEET a.

En sTr-s FRANCIS H'. RICHARDS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

ADJUSTABLE IAOOPER FOR SEWING-MACHINES;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1916.

Application filed June 13, 1902, Serial No. 111,446. Renewed April 11, 1916. Serial No. 90,521.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known thatI, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Loopers for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement in loopers for use in sewing machines which are designed to make a variety of stitchessuch as, for instance, lock stitches and chain stitches.

One object of this invention is to place different loop takers in working position with the needle at will; and a further object is to detach the loop takers.

I provide a looper with a plurality of loop takers which are adjustable relatively to the body portion thereof for the purpose of placing certain loop takers in position for working with the needle. I further provide a looper with two members, one of which is detachable from, and adjustable upon the other member, and which is provided with a plurality of loop takers. And I also provide means whereby the said loop taker and member may be maintained in different adjusted positions with relation to the other member so as to bring one kind of loop takers into operation with a` needle to the exclusion of others.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a sewing machine to which is applied the improved looper. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same, showing in prominence the head of the framework, the needle bar and the needle and presser foot, the looper beneath the cloth plate, and the loop diverter out of operation. Fig. 3 is an inverted horizontal section taken on dotted lines a-a, Fig. 1, and more clearly defines the loop diverter mechanism. Fig. 4 is a plan view in section of the looper, showing the loop taker member mounted upon the looper body, and held in position by the detents, one of which is shown. Fig. 5 is a front elevationof the looper, showing the detents in dotted lines. Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the same. Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views, the former showing the one position of the looper during the formation of the lock stitch, and the latter showing another position during the formation of the .chain stitch. Fig. 9 is a detail view in section, showing a modiiied form of attaching one member' to the other. Fig. 10 is an end elevation of thelooptakercarry mg member removed from the looper body. Fig. 11 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 12 is an end elevation of the looper body with the loop-taker-carrying member removed; and Fig. 13 is a front elevational view of said looper body.

Similar characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

The improved looper is employed in connection with a sewing machine of known construction, similar, for instance, to that shown and described in Letters Patent 574,573, granted to me on March 5, 1891, and comprises a horizontal bed plate A, and upright standard B, a horizontally-extending arm C, a receiving head D, a needle bar E, carrying a needle e, and operatively connected by a link e to a crank e2 secured to the forward extremity of a power shaft F which is mounted in suitable bearings f in the horizontal arm C, and on the outer' eX- tremity of which is a driving wheel G; an intermediate shaft H, connected to said power shaft F by a onc-to-one train of gears t, a looper driver shaft I also connected to said intermediate shaft I-I by a twoto-three train of gears 71.', said looper driver shaft I also carrying a suitable bearing z' beneath the bed plate A, a looper guide J supported by a bracket J. on the under side of said bed plate A, to which is-hinged a race way 7c at 7c and a latch 70" also carried by the guide J for holding said race way in position. Secured to the former extremity of said looper driving shaft I is a head L radially extended fingers m which terminate in projecting studs a which are designed to register with the sockets in the looper so as to revolve it.

In the present application, I show a looper provided with a plurality of loop takers which are designed for making a variety of stitches, and certain loop takers of this looper can be brought into working position with the needle4 at will without interfering with the needle mechanism or the looper mechanism'. "To accomplish this I provide a looper having an annular frame 79, upon the periphery of which are equidistantly disposed a plurality of loop takers, preferably in sets, those of one set being, for instance, for the lock stitch, and designated by g/,g and g2, and alternating with those of the other set of lo-op takers which are for the chain stitch and designated by r, 11, and r2, as will be readily seen by reference to Figs. 7, 8 and 11.

Y The body of the looper which is designated by S is provided on its rear with sockets s in which engage the studs a of the fingers m carried by the looper driver shaft I, and by which the looper is rotated, and within which is an annular recess s2 provided with a stem s3 for receiving a shield s4 having a sleeve 85, on which is carried a lower thread bobbin t.

Upon the periphery of the body S are radiated a series of indentations u, u', which are equidistantly disposed also in sets and which receive the detents o, carried by the frame I). These detents are provided with rounded heads o so as to readily disengage the indentations on the looper body S when the frame P is rotated to bring different loop takers into working position with the needle,-in the one case the detents will register with the indentations u and place the takers r, 1)', r2 in position for working with the needle and in the other case said detents will engage its indentations u and bring the takers g, Q, g2 into proper working position, and these detents o which are seated in socle ets w in the frame are provided with springs 'w' for maintaining them firmly out against and wit-hin the indentations on the looper body, when the loop takers are in proper working position and at the same time are sufficiently yielding` to permit the ready disengaging of the indentations when the frame is revolved, and which securing means operates automatically upon the parts being brought to the proper position of adjustment one relatively to the other. When it Yis desired to detach the frame of loop takers for any purpose whatsoever the latch k2 is manipulated to release the race 7s and the looper can then be taken out and frame removed laterally therefrom.

In Fig. 9 a modified form is shown for securing the loop-taker frame in one position or another on the looper body by a set screw y sealed in the socket y of the frame-P.

A loop diverter 30 is fulcrumed at 3()a below the bed plate of the machine for longitudinal and vertical oscillation across the path of the needle; and actuating lever 31 is also fulcrumed at 31a in close proximity with the (vertical) intermediate shaft H and is pivotally connected to said loop diverter 30 by a rod 32. A peripheral cam 33 is formed in the lower portion of the intermediate shaft H and operates with said actuating lever 31 so as to alternately oscillate the diverter 30, and a spring 33 maintains said lever 31 in engagement with said pe ripheral cam 33 during opera-tion.r As a means of throwing said loop `diverter into and out of operation with the driver meehanism, the actuating lever 34 is pivotally secured to the lever 31 at 31a and is provided at its outer end with a pivot 34a which travels within a cam slot 35, in a shipper bar 36 supported in guide ways 37, 37 on the underside of the bed plate and is provided with a thumb piece 3S which extends up through a slot 39 in the bed plate so that said shipper bar may be adjusted to one eX- treme or another, thereby operating the lever 31 so as yto bring it in and out of engagement with said cam 33, so as to actuate the loop diverter 30, and said shipper bar 32 is held in one position or another by a detent 410 which is secured to the frame of the machine and which engages the indentations 32a on the shipper' bar 32.

The operation is as follows: In making a variety of stitches by means of differential stitch-making mechanism which comprises a looper, a needle,y a loop diverter, etc., the details thereof are so clearly described in the Letters Patent aforementioned that description is deemed unnecessary, it being simply my purpose to describe the adjustment of the loop takers to the looper and to the needle.

In the first instance, therefore, the looper is supported in the hinged raceway of the looper guide J and receives a rotary motion by the looper driver shaft I to which motion is imparted by the power shaft F through the intermediation of the shaft I'I connected to the said driver shaft I and power shaft F. This power shaft F is also the direct means for imparting the reciprocatory motion to the needle bar E and needle e'.

Assuming for convenience, that the loop takers r, r', T2, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 are in a position for operating with the needle,

whereby a lock stitch will be formed, as described in the aforementioned Letters Iate-nt, by virtue of the frame, P carrying the loop-takers being maintained on the looper body S by the detents o registering with the indentations u, and it is desired to change the position of the loop takers so that the lock stitch loop takers will be out of the path of the needle, it is simply necessary to partially turn the frame P whereby the detents 'u will disengage the indentations a on the body S and register with the indentations a which will place the chain stitch loop takers in position fo-r cooperating with the needle.

Then it is desired to remove the loop taker frame P from the looper body S for the pur ose of substituting a frame having other kinds of loop takers, it is simply necessary to unhook the hinged raceway, which will permit the removal of the looper so that the fra-me may be changed.

For throwing the loop diverter 30 in and out of operation with the looper, as desired, the thumb piece 38 is shifted to the right, which will bring the lever 31 into contact with the cam 38, whereby said loop diverter will be oscillated, and for holding said loop diverter in one position, a spring 40 secured to the frame A registers with notches 32a on the shipper bar 32 which will hold said shipper bar in one extremity or another.

It will be understood that many variations of construction, as well as operation, may be employed without departing from the spirit of this invention, it being simply necessary to provide a looper having adjustable loop takers for coperating with the needle without the necessity of interfering with the needle mechanism or the drivingmechanism, and also without the necessity of adjusting the looper.

It will be seen that different loop takers of this looper may be brought into operation with the needle, at will, by simply revolving the frame on the looper so that the detents may register with either one or another set of the indentations on the looper body which will bring one or another set of loop takers into a position to coperate with the needle, and this is accomplished without the necessity of interfering with the drivin-g mechanism of either the looper or the needle.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In a sewing machine, the combination with needle mechanism, of a rotaryV looper embodying a body portion and a loop taker portion comprising a ring having therein a circular series of hooks, which loop taker portion is angularly adjustable into a plurality of positions relative to said body portion, means for maintaining said portions in each of their several positions of relative adjustment, and driving mechanism for engaging and rotating said body portion.

2. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a rotary two-part looper comprising a body portion in operative relation with said driving mechanism, and a loop-taker portion adjustable about the axis of rotation of the looper and relative to the body portion thereof and having a plurality of sets ofloop-takers respectively effective in its sev-v eral positions of adjustment, and means for maintaining the parts in their positions of adjustment.

3. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mecha-.

nism, a two part looper one part having operative connection with said driving mechanism'and the other of said parts having a plurality of sets of loop takers and being adapted for adjustment relative to the part having operative connection with the driving mechanism, means for maintaining the said adjustment, a loop diverter coperative with the looper, and means for shifting said stitch-changing device into and out of its cooperative position.

4. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper having a body portion operated by said driving mechanism and a portion adjustable relative thereto having a plurality of sets of loop takers, effective in the nism, a looper operated by said driving mechanism and having a body portion and loop taker having a plurality of sets of loop takers adjustable with reference to the body portion and effective in the formation oi 'different kinds of stitches and so disposed that certain loop takers are located' between other certain loop takers, means for maintaining the said adjustment, a loop diverter cooperative with the looper, and means for shifting said loop diverter into and out of its coperative position.

6. In a sewing machine, Athe combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper' operated by said driving mechanism and comprising two members, one of which is provided with diametricallyopposed loop takers adapted to be adjusted relatively to the other member, and means for maintaining a certain loop taker in position for working with the needle.

7. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper operated by said driving mechanism and comprising two members, one of which is provided with a plurality of sets of diametrically-opposed loop takers adapted to be adjusted relatively to the other member, means for maintaining the adjustment, and a loop diverter coperative with the looper. l v

8. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a rotary looper operated by the said driving mechanism and comprising two members, a body portion and a loop taker, N'

said members being shiftable in relation to each other so as to permit a loop taker to be placed in a predetermined working position with the needle.

9. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper operated by said driving mechanism and comprising two members, one oi' which is provided with a plurality of sets of loop takers, said members being adjustable in relation to each other so as to permit a determinate set of loop takers to be placed in position for working with the needle. y

l0. In a sewing miihine, the combination IOS with driving mechanism, 'of a needle mechanism, a looper comprising two members, one of which is provided with two sets of loop takers, said members being adjustable in relation to each other so as to permit a set of loop takers on one member being placed izi working position with the needle at will.

11. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper device operated by said driving mechanism having a body portion and a ring adjustable thereon provided with a loop taker, and means for maintaining different adjustments of said ring.

12. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper device operated by said driving mechanism having a body portion and a ring adjustable thereon provided with a phirality of loop takers, and means for main-4 taining dilierent adjustments of said ring.

13. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper device operated by said driving mechanism comprising a body and a ring adjustably mounted thereon and provided with a plurality of sets of loop takers, and means for maintaining different adjustments of said ring.

14. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper device operated by said driving mechanism and comprising two members, one of which is provided with sets of loop takers, said members being adjustable in relation to each other so as to permit the desired loop takers to be placed in working position with the needle at will, and sockets carried by one member for receiving spring catches on the other member so as to place the sets of loop takers in different positions on the looper.

15. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper operated by said driving mechanism comprising two members, one oi.l which is provided with sets of loop takers, said members being adjustable in relation to each other so as to permit the desired loop takers to be placed in working position with the needle at will, and sockets disposed in two sets so that when said spring catches register with one socket they bring one set of loop takers in working position with the needle and when registering with another set also bring another set of loop takers in working position with the needle.

1G. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper operated by said driving mechanism and comprising two members, oneof which is provided with sets of loop takers, said members being adjustable in relation to each other so as to permit the desired set of loop takers to be placed in working position with the needle at will, and sockets disposed in two'sets on one member so that when said spring catches register with either set thereof they will bring one set of loop takers into working position with the needle to the exclusion of the other set.

17. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper operated by said driving mechanism and comprising two members,

one of which is provided with loop takers and which is adjustable upon the other member so that certain loop takers may be brought into working position with the needle and the other member provided with sockets for connection to said driving mechanism.

18. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, oit needle mechanism, a looper operated by said driving mechanism and comprising two members, one of which is adjustable upon and operated by the other and provided with loop takers, detents secured to one member to register with indentations on the other so as to maintain it in one or another adjusted position on said other member so as to bring certain loop takers into working position with the needle, and sockets carried by one of said members for receiving the loopdriving mechanism.

19. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, oit' needle mechanism, a revoluble looper driven by said driving mechanism and comprising two separate members, one of which is operated by the other and provided with sets of loop takers, and spring catches for holding one member in certain relation to the other so that one or another of said sets of loop takers may be brought into working position with the needle.

20. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper driven by said driving mechanism and comprising two revolving members, one of which is supported by the other and both being respectively provided with detents and indentations for maintaining one member relatively to the other so as to bring certain loop takers into working relation with the needle.

21. In a sewing machine, thecombination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper driven by said driving mechanism and comprising a disk and annular member, one of which is carried by and adjustable on the other and provided with different sets of loop takers, and springactuated devices for permitting and maintaining ditferent relative adjustments of the members so as to bring each set of loop takers separately into working relation with the needle at will.

22. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a revolving looper operated by the driving mechanism and comprising a driven member, and a loop-taker-carrying member provided with a series of takers, said members being adjustable in relation to each other so as to permit certain of the loop takers, to the exclusion of others, being placed in working position with the needle at will.

23. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a revolving looper operated by said driving mechanism and comprising tw'o members, one member driven by the driving mechanism and the other coacting with said driven member and adjustable in relation thereto so as `tol permit certain sets of loop takers, to the exclusion vof the other sets, being placed in working position with the needle at Will, and a chain stitch device operative with certain sets of loop takers.

24. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a revoluble looper having an adjustable annular frame provided with loop takers, and means for maintaining the frame in one or another position, so that certain loop takers can coperate with the needle.

25. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a revoluble looper having an adjustable frame provided with loop takers, and means for maintaining the same in one position or another so that certain loop takers can coperate with the needle, and a loop diverter' coperative with certain loop takers.

26. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a rotary looper operated by the said driven mechanism and comprising two relatively adjustable members, and automatic means for securing the parts in such adjustment. j

27. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a looper operated by said driven member and comprising two members, one of which is provided with a plurality of sets of loop takers, said members being adjustable in relation to each other, and means for securing said loo-p takers successively in a plurality of predetermined positions.

28. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism for rotating a looper, of a rotatable two-part looper having one part for the engagement of the driving mechanism and one part for engaging the thread, said parts being relatively angularly adjustable, and means for maintaining the parts in their'positions of adjustment.

29. In a sewing machine', the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a rotary two-part looper operated by said driving mechanism and having one part angularly shiftable relatively to the other part, and means for maintaining the adjustment.

30. In a sewing machine, the combination with a rotary driver, of needle mechanism, a two-part looper, one of said parts having a driving connection with said mechanism and the other of said parts carrying loop takers and being adjustable about the aXis of said driver and relatively to the driven part.

3l. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, of needle mechanism, a rotary two part looper operated by said driving mechanism and having one part angularly shiftable relatively to the other part, one of said parts having two sets of engaging faces, detents carried by the other of said parts for engagement with said engaging faces for maintaining the adjustment of said parts.

32. In a sewing machine, the combination with driving mechanism, a two part looper actuated thereby and having one part shiftable relatively to the other for coperation with the needle mechanism of the sewing machine, one of said parts having a series of sockets for each of said positions, a series of bolts carried by the other of said parts for alternately engaging said respective series of sockets.

F. W. BARNACLO, B. C. STICKNEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, ID. C. 

